Author
Topic: Warts - HPV - Why is there no cure if it is so common? (Read 20393 times)

I have had verrucas on my feet for years, although I have tried various attempts at treating them (freezing, shouting at them, praying, etc) they are still there. I have also started to get warts on my fingers. (which is even worse) My first question is "are verrucas on the feet and warts on the hand the same virus" and the other question is why is there no cure if they are so 'common'?

I am 22 years old now, healthy as far as I know, got verrucas from about the age of 11 till current and warts from the age of 20 till now. My GP just says to leave them but surely there must be a reason for them being there still?

If the virus was good at causing serious disease or death then it would be likely to kill the host before it got transmitted. That's not good news for it or us.It certainly wouldn't get to be very common.Since it is common, it can't produce much illness (I know the HIV seems not to obey this in some places- it just hasn't had time to learn yet).Since it seldom does much harm (and I know the annoyance and embarassment it causes - I have enough warts from time to time) it's not worth putting much effort into a cure.

True. They can spread easily though, so it would be a good idea to use some kind of wart or verucca 'paint' every day. I think all of these treat them (with salicylic acid) as well as cover them. This may stop the cycle, so hopefully when your current warts eventually vanish you should be free of them! Oh, and wear flip-flops in communal showers and swimming pools etc.

Only if it was the right HPV. There's lots and lots of different viruses (over 90) and the vaccine only works on 4.

FWIW you should try a chiropodist to get rid of your verrucas.

The freezing and other treatments work a bit, but the salicylic acid technique where you pair it away with a knife until it bleeds and then dump the acid on it works about 80% of the time. The other techniques don't seem to be nearly so well backed up by research.

If you don't treat verrucas they tend to get deeper over time.

I should ignore the doctor.

Oh yeah, and the ones on your hands and the verruca could be the same, or different viruses, it's difficult to know without doing a DNA analysis.

Would the cervical cancer vaccines, which target other versions of the HPV virus, have any effect on verucca HPV virus?

The reason there is no cure, is because once you have contracted a virus they continue to live in your cells your entire life. Some viruses can remain inactive for long periods of time and become active during times where your immune system is affected. The only way to prevent most viruses is via vaccine before you contract the virus. The vaccines basically shows the weakened or dead virus to your immune system which then builds up antibodies. If you come in contact with the virus at a later time, you antibodies immediately attack and kill the virus, not allowing it to replicate and invade your cells. Unfortunately for you, whatever strain you have can not be cured as of now. Perhaps in the future we will be able to figure out a way to cure viral infections after contraction.

There is no way to tell whether your warts are related to genital warts unless you get tested. I highly recommended that you do because there are some treatments available.

I did some clinical work on the HPV vaccine here in Australia where it was created. Genital warts can be caused by several strains of the virus but the vaccine only covers the most common strains. This means that you can still contract the virus if you come in contact with one of the strains that is not covered by the vaccine. It should also be noted that the HPV vaccine will only give you immunity if you have not yet contracted the virus. If you already have the HPV there is no cure, only treatment. We are in the process of testing an expanded HPV vaccine that covers more stains that the initial vaccine but it won't be released for a while.

I'm not sure what the cross-reactivity with other HPV strains is like. The answer is likely to be low because otherwise cross-reaction between difference HPV strains post-infection would mean that anyone who's ever had a verucca would be protected from cervical cancer, which we know is not the case. The vaccine drives a strong response against the high-risk types linked to cervical cancer (16 and 18) and the common genital wart strain, 11, but I'm not sure how much if any protection is achieved against other strains. If there is any effect then it is likely to be difficult to quantify and will only emerge with large post-license trials amongst vaccine users.

The Naked Scientists® and Naked Science® are registered trademarks.
Information presented on this website is the opinion of the individual contributors
and does not reflect the general views of the administrators, editors, moderators,
sponsors, Cambridge University or the public at large.